


1905. 



OFFICIAL 
CIRCULAR 



ISSUED TO BOARDS OF 
EDUCATION IN OHIO by 
the State Commissioner of 
Common Schools with the 
Full Text of the :::::::: 




Passed April 22, 1896, and 
the Names and Addresses 
of all Publishers who have 
Agreed in Writing to fur- 
nish their Publications upon 
the Terms Prescribed in 
the Law. :: :: :: :: :: :: 



The AVestbote 
Publishing Co. 



State Printers 
Columbus, Ohio 






u^"- 






....OFFICE OF THE.... 

State Commissioner of Common Schools, 



Columbus, Ohio, June 12, 1903. 
To Boards of Education in Ohio: 

The following is the full text of the School Book Law passed April 33, 
1896: 

AK ACT 

To provide for supplying the Schools of Ohio with good and sufficient school 
books at the lowest possible prices. 

(4020-10) Sec. 1. [Filing and preservation of copies and prices of 
school books.] Any publisher or jDublishers of school books in the United 
States desiring to offer school books for use by pupils in the common 
schools of Ohio as hereinafter provided, shall, before such books may be 
lawfully adopted and purchased by any school board in this state, file in 
the office of the state commissioner of common schools, a copy of each 
book proposed to be so -offered, together with the published list wholesale 
price thereof, and no revised edition of any such book shall be used in 
the common schools until a copy of such revised edition shall have been 
filed in the office of the said commissioner together with the published list 
wholesale price thereof. The said commissioner shall carefully preserve in 
his office all such copies of books and the prices thereof so filed. (93 v. 383.) 

(4020-11) Sec. 2. [Maximum price; notification of publisher.] 

Whenever and so often as any book and the price thereof shall be so filed in 
the commissioner's office as provided in section 1, a commission consisting 
of the governor, the secretary of state and the state commissioner of com- 
mon schools [he] shall immediately fix the maximum price at which such 
books may be sold to or purchased by boards of education as hereinafter 
provided, which maximum price so fixed on any book shall not exceed 
seventy-five per cent, of the published list wholesale price thereof, and the 
state commissioner of common schools shall immediately notify the pub- 
lisher of such books so filed, of the maximum price so fixed. If the pub- 
lisher so notified, shall notify the commissioner in writing that he accepts 
the price so fixed, and shall agree in writing to furnish such book during 
a period of five years at the price so fixed, such written acceptance and 



agreement shall entitle said publisher to offer said book so filed for sale to 
said board of education for use by the pupil under the terms of this act. 
(93 V. 282.) 

state commissioner of common schools not autliorized to permit publishers to with- 
draw books after they have been listed, before expiration of contract. Com. 

(4020-12) Sec. 3. [Notices to boards; legality dependent on com- 
pliance.] The said commissioner shall during the first half of the month 
of June, 1896, and during the first half of the month of June in each year 
thereafter, furnish to each board of education the names and addresses 
of all publishers who shall have during the year ending on the first day 
of said month of June in each year agreed in writing to furnish their pub- 
lications upon the terms provided in this act. And it shall not be lawful 
for any board of education to adopt or cause to be used in the common 
schools any book whose publisher shall not have complied, as to said book, 
with the provisions of this act. (92 v. 282.) 

(4020-13) Sec. 4. [Procedure upon violation of agreement by pub- 
lisher.] If any publisher who shall have agreed in writing to furnish 
books as provided in this act, shall fail or refuse to furnish such books 
adopted as herein provided to any board of education or its authorized 
agent upon the terms as herein provided, it shall be the duty of said board 
at once to notify the said commission of su.ch failure or refusal, and the 
commission shall at once cause an investigation of such charge to be made, 
and if the same is found to be true the commission shall at once notify 
said publisher and each board of education in the state that said book shall 
not hereafter be adopted and purchased by boards of education ; and said 
publisher shall forfeit and pay to the state of Ohio five hundred dollars 
for each failure, to be recovered in the name of the state, in an action to 
be brought by the attorney general, in the court of common pleas of 
Franklin county, or in any other proper court or in any other place where 
service can be made, and the amount, when collected, shall be paid into the 
state treasur}^ to the credit of the common school fund of the state. (92 
V. 282.) 

(4020-14) Sec. 5. [Studies, etc.; shipment of books, etc.; sale to 
pupils; purchase from pupils; free books.] Each board of education 
on receiving the statements, above mentioned, from said commissioner, 
shall on the third Monday in August thereafter meet, and at such meeting, 
or at any adjourned meeting within two Aveeks after said Monda}^, determine 
by a majority vote of all members elected the studies to be pursued and 
which of said text-books so filed shall be used in the schools under its con- 
trol, but no text-books so adopted shall be changed, nor any part thereof 
altered or revised, nor shall any other text-book be substituted therefor 
for five years after the date of the selection and adoption thereof without 
the consent of three-fourths of all the members elected, given at a regular 
meeting; and each board of education shall cause it to be ascertained, and 



at regular meetings in April and August shall determine which, and the 
number of each of said books the schools under its charge shall require. 
until the next regular meetings in April and August, and shall cause an 
order to be drawn for the amount in fayor of the clerk of the board of 
education, payable out of the contingent fund; and said clerk shall at once 
order said books so agreed upon by the board, of the publisher, and the pub- 
lisher, on the receipt of such order, shall ship such books to said clerk 
without delay, and the clerk shall forthwith examine such books, and, if 
found right and in accordance with said order, remit the amount to said 
publisher, and the board of education shall pay all charges for the trans- 
portation of such books, out of the school contingent fimd; but if said 
boards of education can, at any time, secure of the publishers books at a 
price less than said maximum price, it shall be its duty so to do, and may 
without unnecessary delay, make effort to secure such lower price before 
adopting any particular text-book. Each board of edu.cation shall havQ 
power to, and shall make all necessary provisions and arrangements to place 
the books so purchased within easy reach of and accessible to all pupils in 
their district, and for that purpose may make such contracts, and take 
such security as they may deem necessary, for the custody, care and sale of 
such books and accounting for the proceeds; but not to exceed ten per cent, 
of the cost price shall be paid therefor, and said books shall be sold to the 
pupils of school age in the district, at the price paid the publisher, and not 
to exceed ten per cent, therefor added, and the proceeds of such sale shall 
be paid into the contingent fund of such district, and whoever receives 
said books from the board of education for sale as aforesaid to the pupils, 
and fails to account honestly and fully for the same, or for the proceeds to 
the board of education when required, shall be guilty of embezzlement and 
punished accordingly. Provided, however, boards of education may con- 
tract with local retail dealers to furnish said books at prices above specified, 
the said board being still responsible to the publishers for all books pur- 
chased by the said board of education. And when pupils remove from 
any district, and have text-books of the kind adopted in such district, and 
not being of the kind adopted in the district to which they remove, and 
wish to dispose of the same, the board of the district from which they re- 
move, when requested, shall purchase the same at the fair value thereof, 
and resell the same as other books ; and nothing in this act shall prevent the 
board of education from furnishing free books to pupils as provided by 
law. That for the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing provisions 
of this act, and paying the expenses incident thereto, there be and is hereby 
appropriated out of any money in the state treasury, to the credit of the 
general revenue fund, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of five hundred 
dollars, to be disbursed and paid on the allowance and order of said com- 
missioner. (-92 V. 282.) 

Penalty for bribery in sale of text-books and school apparatus, see Sec. 6975a.. 



. 6 
COURT DECISIONS. 



Where the committee on text-books of a school board recomm'ended the adoption of 
a certain series of boolis, and the school board amended tlie report and then adopted it, this 
"determines" the books to be used under R. S., Sec. 4020, and exhausts the power to change 
them, and a majority vote ten days afterwards to reconsider is a nullity. 35 O. S., 368. 

The adoption of the books being in connection with a proposition of the publisher, its 
terms as to prices are conditions of the adoption. Id. 

A rule of the board, that resolutions for changing text-books shall be referred to a 
committee and delayed four weeks, is a reasonable one under R. S., Sec. 3985, and binding. 
Nor can a bare majority abrogate it, for Sec. 3982 must be construed with Sec. 3985. Hence, 
an adoption of a text-book by a majority, without reference to the committee and four weeks' 
delay, will not be enforced by mandamus on the application of a parent who has purchased 
the new books. 2 C. C, 510. 



In accordance Avith the provisions of section 3 of this law, I hereby notify you 
that the following publishers of school books have comijlied with the provisions of 
the law, and are therefore entitled to offer for sale, to boards of education, for use 
by the pupils in the schools, such books of their publication as have been authorized 
by the school book commission: 

Ainsworth & Co Chicago, 111. 

Allyn & Bacon Chicago, 111. 

(i) American Book Co Cincinnati, Ohio. 

A. S. Barnes & Co New York City, N. Y. 

Arthur J. Barnes St. Louis, Mo. 

D. Appleton & Co Chicago, 111. 

The Bigelow & Main Co New York City, N. Y. 

C. C. Birchard & Co Boston, Mass. 

Burrows Bros. Co Cleveland, Ohio. 

(2) Central School Supply House Chicago, 111. 

O. C. Clark & Co Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Jolm Church Co Cincinnati, Ohio. 

(3) Columbia Book Co Philadelphia, Pa. 

Crane & Co Topeka, Kans. 

The Creamer Publishing Co Washington C. H., 0. 

D. W. Crist Moultrie, Oliio. 

Dement Publishing Co Chicago, 111. 

Eaton & Co Chicago, 111. 

Educational Association Chicago, 111. 

Eldredge & Bro Philadelphia, Pa. 

Ellis Publishing Co .... ; , . Battle Creek, Mich. 

The Ellsworth Co New York City, N. Y. 

C. W. Emerson Boston, Mass. 

Fillmore Bros Cincinnati, Ohio. 

A. Flanagan & Co - Chicago, 111. 

Fisher & Schwatt Philadelphia, Pa. 

(jrinn & Co Columbus, Onio. 

Globe School Book Co New York City, N. Y. 

(4) Goodyear-Marshall Publishing Co Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

E. A. Hall \ oungstown, Ohio. 

D. C. Heath & Co Chicago, 111.- 

Henry Holt & Co Chicago, 111. 

Houghton, Mifflin & Co Boston, Mass. 



Indiana Publishing Co Danville, Ind. 

, The Inland Publishing Co Terre Haute, Ind. 

Frank V. Irish Chicago, 111. 

William 0. Krohn & Co Chicago, 111. 

Lee & Shepard T Boston, Mass. 

(5) J. B. Lippincott & Co Philadelphia, Pa. 

Little, Brown & Co Boston, Mass. 

Longmans, Green & Go New York City, N. Y. 

A. Lovell & Co New York City, N. Y. 

J. D. Luse Sandusky, Ohio. 

The Macmillan Co Chicago, 111. 

Maynard, Merrill & Co New York City, N. Y. 

E. N. Miner • New I'ork City, N. Y. 

The Morse Co New York City, N. Y. 

R. L. Myers & Co Harrisburg, Pa. 

National Educational Co Columbus, Ohio. 

National Publishing Co Louisville, Ivy. 

Isabel Howard Neflf Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Newson & Co New York City, N. Y. 

Normal Publishing House Indianapolis, Ind. 

J. G. Park Ada, Ohio. 

The Penn Publishing Co .... Philadelphia, Pa. 

Phonographic Institute Co Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Herman R. Postle Columbus, Ohio. 

Potter & Putnam Co New York City, N. Y. 

Powers & Lyons Chicago, 111. 

Practical Bookkeeping Co Chicago, 111. 

Practical Text Book Co Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Prang Educational Co Chicago, 111. 

Public School Publishing Co Bloomington, 111. 

Rand, McNally & Co Chicago, 111. 

Raub & Co Philadelphia, Pa. 

Richardson, Smith & Co New York City, N. Y. 

W. S. Rogers Sandusky, Ohio. 

The Sadler-Rowe Co Baltimore, Md. 

(6) Benj. H. Sanborn & Co Boston, Mass. 

Scott, Foresman & Co Chicago, 111. 

Charles Scribner's Sons New York City, N. Y. 

Sibley & Ducker Chicago, 111. 

Silver, Burdett & Co Chicago, 111. 

H. P. Smith Publishing Co New l^ork City, N. Y^ 

Christopher Sower Co Philadelphia, Pa. 

E. Steiger & Co New Y^ork City, N. Y^ 

Stewart & Glover Cleveland, Ohio. 

Thomas & Mattill Cleveland, Ohio. 

Thompson, Brown & Co Boston, Mass. 

University Publishing Co New York City, N. Y. 

A. C. Van Sant Omaha, Neb. 

(7) L. S. Wells Columbus, Ohio. 

Werner School Book Co Chicago, 111. 

Western Publishing House Chicago, 111. 

W. H. Wheeler & Co Chicago, 111. 

Williams & Rogers Rochester, N. Y'. 



r- 



The Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co St. Lou_, .?_ ®20 312 261 5 

(8) Young America Publishing Co New York City, N. Y". 

Zaner & Bloser Columbus, Ohio. 

1. The American Book Company has purchased the books listed by Harper & Bros, of 
New York, also books listed by Butler, Sheldon eg; Co. 

2. The Central School Supply House has purchased the books listed by Jam'es O. Wise. 

3. The Columbia Book Company has purchased the books listed by John E. Potter & 
Co. of Philadelphia, Pa. 

4. Goodyear-Marshall Publishing Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are the successors of the 
Goodyear Publishing Co. 

5. J. B. Lippincott & Co. have purchased the books listed by J. N. Patrick, St. Louis, Mo. 

6. Benj. H. Sanborn & Co. have purchased the books listed by Thos. R. Shewell & Co. 
of Chicago, Ills. 

7. L. S. Wells has purchased the books listed by the late W. G. Williams of Delaware, 
Ohio. 

8. The Young America Publishing Co. has purchased the books listed by Victor C. 
Bell & Co. 

Each publisher named above has been furnished Avith a duplicate of the afore- 
said list of his books oil file with the commission, together with the maximum price 
of each publication, and a copy of said list can be secured by application to the 
publisher. The State does not publish the prices as fixed and. they must be secured 
from the publisher. 




Commissioner. 



m3> 



020 312J6i 



HoUinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



